One ticket holder who slept in yesterday said he’d leapt from his bed in surprise after hearing
the television announce his ticket number for “El Gordo” (The Fat One) — the lottery’s top prize, a
cool $546,200 payoff.

Raul Clavero, 27, a mechanic living in the Madrid suburb of Leganes, then realized that four
other members of his family had also bought tickets with the same winning numbers.

Millions of Spaniards had been glued to their televisions as $3.4 billion in prize money was
distributed in a four-hour TV show. Unlike lotteries that offer one large jackpot, Spain’s yuletide
drawing sprinkles a variety of winnings on thousands of ticket holders.

Tales of joy and celebration were widely broadcast on TV stations, providing Spain’s struggling
population a rare moment of joy after another year of brutal financial crisis.

Before Spain’s property-led economic boom imploded in 2008, ticket buyers often talked about
spending their winnings on new cars, beach homes or fancy vacations. Now, many Spaniards are just
hoping to avoid having their homes or cars repossessed.

“We jumped out of bed and ran out,” Clavero said, still looking shellshocked two hours later. He
added that he would “pay the mortgage, that’s the first thing, and then just enjoy the rest.”

Winning El Gordo tickets this year were sold in at least eight locations throughout the country,
including Madrid, Barcelona and the northern industrial city of Modragon, where electrical
appliance manufacturer Fagor Electrodomesticos filed for bankruptcy in October.

The second-best number netted winners $170,700, and all those tickets — worth $1.7 million —
were sold in the town of Granadilla de Abona on the Canary Islands resort of Tenerife.

The lottery had one change this year. For the first time, the tax man will claim 20 percent of
winnings above $3,400, as the Spanish government strives to right an economy saddled with
unemployment of 26 percent.